When the host of Slice Network’s Intervention Canada says addictions don’t discriminate, he knows what he’s talking about. A private-school grad with a Forest Hill pedigree, Galloway beat his own crack habit 10 years ago. Today he counsels other addicts, both in private practice and in front of the reality-TV cameras. We joined him for an early morning coffee to talk ethics, Crackberries and living (responsibly) on the edge.
I was up till 3 a.m. last night doing a crash course on the show. God, I thought Keeping Up with the Kardashians was difficult to watch.
Yeah, it can get pretty intense. We don’t want to sugarcoat anything so the show is totally uncensored [graphic needle and pipe use, binging and purging are all shown]. I mean, obviously we edit for time, but nothing is set up or redone for the cameras.
For anyone who hasn’t seen Intervention Canada, the first two-thirds of each episode are a documentary-style chronicle of a person’s addiction. And the final part of the show has the addict facing a surprise intervention, which is where you come in.
The crew has always been there taping for a few days before I arrive. I do what’s called a pre-intervention with the families, where we spend a day building a united front. An addict’s job is to separate, divide and conquer, and in most cases, there is one person that he or she will always turn to. Getting that person on side can be a challenge. The next day we do the intervention and the subjects don’t know what they’re walking into.
That’s because subjects are under the impression that they’re participating in a documentary about their addiction. Explain why a down-and-out addict wants to participate in a documentary?
To some degree there’s the idea that, “Well, if I can change someone’s life by showing them what I’ve been through, I don’t mind sharing it.” Having a sense of purpose is important to anyone. Also, I’m a recovering addict and I’m a little self-centred. Maybe the attention part plays a small role.
You’re participating in a panel on Nov. 10 at the TIFF Bell Lightbox about the ethics of depicting addiction on reality TV. Presumably you think the arrangement is worthwhile.
One of our main goals on Intervention Canada is getting rid of the stigma that surrounds addiction, which is still such a huge issue. Seventy-five per cent of people will talk to a co-worker about a relative with cancer, but less than 50 per cent will share a similar issue involving mental health.
Can you play devil’s advocate and argue the other side of the ethical debate about doing this on reality TV?
People might think that we’re taking advantage of addicts by showing the worst parts of five days in a one-hour show. I guess they might think that we’re maintaining the stigma rather than getting rid of it. I disagree. I would never have gotten involved in the show if I wasn’t confident in its potential to do good.
A lot of the subjects on the show have had the odds stacked against them—teen pregnancies, histories of abuse, low incomes and poor education. Can you talk to me about addiction in terms of the nature/nurture construct?
The reality is that the disease doesn’t discriminate. On the show you probably get a skewed sample because people with money and important jobs are less willing to have their identities revealed, and can also afford a more private treatment plan, which generally isn’t an option for the people who come on our show. That said, in the real world there are as many rich addicts as there are poor ones, I can promise you that.
And you speak from experience. Your own narrative involves a privileged background, an elite Upper Canda College education, a job in finance. Would it be fair to call you a silver-spoon addict?
My mom definitely wouldn’t like that. Sure, I had opportunities that other people wouldn’t have, but I wasn’t spoiled. My story began pretty typically—I started smoking pot in high school because I liked the feeling of being high. In university I got into some harder drugs, but I still graduated. As my addiction progressed, whatever I was using didn’t feel like enough, which is how I eventually moved from cocaine to crack.
And once you go crack, you don’t go back?
It’s a shorter but more intense high and just incredibly addictive. After escalating, most addicts don’t go back down the ladder.
You have two young kids now. How will you try to steer them as they get older?
My kids aren’t going out until they’re 30! Seriously though, of course my wife and I will sit down with them and certainly share my history and what that means. But we can’t put a chain on them. They’re going to do what they’re going to do and we’ll be there to pick them up when they fall. You want your kids to feel safe calling you, no matter what kind of trouble they get into.
What are your opinions on the relatively new realm of technology-related addictions? It’s not crack, but I know people who seem physically incapable of putting down their smartphone.
More and more studies are showing that addiction is a brain disease, whether it’s food or sex or your Crackberry. Fortunately, looking at your smartphone all day doesn’t have life-threatening consequences, but it does affect your relationships. The other thing with all of this technology and social networking is that while we think it’s making us more communicative, it’s actually very isolating, and isolation can lead to all sorts of other problems. Real relationships are important.
What about in your own life, is there any realm in which you indulge your addictive personality? Coffee, ice cream, bad ’80s movies?
We have a lot of coffee in my house. I’ve become a bit of a connoisseur, which is what happens when you spend what you used to spend on wine on coffee. I also bought a motorcycle a few months ago.
So do you still have that need to live on the edge?
It’s definitely not a death wish or anything like that, but I am the guy who will jump off a cliff into the water or bungee jump, so I guess to some extent I crave that rush. Of course, it could also be that I’m 40-plus, married with two kids and having a midlife crisis.
LIGHTNING ROUND!
iPhone or Blackberry?
iPhone.
Jays or Leafs?
Leafs.
Teenage crush?
Farrah Fawcett.
Must-see TV?
Sons of Anarchy.
Dream vacation?
Someday golfing with my sons in Scotland.
Desert island album?
Anything by Lynyrd Skynyrd
Favourite piece of clothing?
Flannel shirt.
Andrew Galloway will speak on an addiction and ethics panel at the TIFF Bell Lightbox on Nov. 10. The season finale of Intervention Canada airs Nov. 11 on Slice.
